Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color

by Valerie Steele

Today, with the advent of “millennial pink,” the color formerly associated with Barbie has acquired a new identity. Nor is this the first time the symbolism of pink has been radically transformed. In collaboration with a major exhibition at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, curator and fashion historian Valerie Steele explores the history and significance of pink in fashion, art, and culture from the eighteenth century to the present.


Steele and her co-authors tell the whole story of this controversial color, emphasizing how its meanings changed throughout the centuries and across the globe, in cultures as diverse as France, India, Japan, Mexico, and the United States. In eighteenth-century France, men and women alike wore pink, which was a fashionably “new” color. A century later, however, pink had become feminized and eroticized in the West.


Pink is beautifully illustrated, with images of stunning pink fashions given context by photographs, advertisements, and works of art. It features essays by scholars across the disciplines, giving readers access to a wealth of research into subjects as diverse as Hollywood movies and the symbolism of the pink triangle. This book will appeal to those interested in fashion and culture, as well as those who love pink. 

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, Art, History, Photography, Gender, Cultural

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2018

About the author

Valerie Steele is director and chief curator and Melissa Marra is associate curator of education and public programs, both at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Judd Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated book about the history of the color pink in fashion.

[Amanda Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was really interesting. Serious academia mixed in with just beautiful bright pink illustrations

[Kendra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so regret what a disappointment this book was. The photographs, I'll say right off the bat, are completely lovely and worth a browse. The text, on the other hand, was a huge disappointment. The first half of the book is a lengthy and (alas!) thoroughly uninteresting essay. It's clear the researcher has done a thorough job scouring history for glimpses and references to pink, and she admirably trots all these snippets out for us to see. But there's no sense of central thesis or, really, any drawn conclusion at all. Instead, we're trotted out lots of facts about pink in chronological order, to observe it in the wild like an animal with agency, rather than the sociological phenomenon it is -- and how the title teases it'll treat it.

About halfway through the book, the primary essay ends, and the reader is served up a series of shorter, more focused essays written by other people. Unfortunately, the material covers much of the same cultural and historical ground as the primary essay, including repeated images. And though these more in-depth essays likely deliver the arguments and nuance missing in the primary essay, the fact that they come after makes them tempting to skim, lest one retread old ground.

Overall, the feel of the book is one that spun itself out early and, having exhausted the topic, reached out to other historians and essayists for filler. Is this what happened? I haven't the foggiest. Is this how the book reads? Yeah kinda.

The tl;dr: I was disappointed by this one -- it somehow left me LESS interested in the "punk, pretty, powerful color" than I was before I read the book. I believe that the history of pink is genuinely spicy and interesting and deserving of a book -- just a better book than this one.

[Nena Ivon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review and other thoughts on pink in fashion and our lives: The book is brilliantly written, edited and illustrated. Giving us insights into a color that has been in fashion for centuries. I particularly like the layout of the book taking us from the courts of Europe when pink was worn by as many men as women through Haute Couture Collections to Punk to Red Carpets to Pussy Hats to Real Men Wear Pink to pink ribbons fighting breast cancer. We learn about the introduction of Shocking Pink by Elsa Schiaparelli to the iconic Yves Saint Laurent black gown with wide shocking pink bow, a garment, that Steele shared with us in conversation, that was a major exhibition coup and one she was especially excited to include. It is a MUST for your fashion library, but then all of Valerie Steele’s books are meant to be included there.

I have had the fabulous good fortune to have many brilliant authors join me in conversation for the monthly nenasnotes The Fashion Book Club and I must admit Valerie wasn’t an exception, we all learned so much! I hope she enjoyed the hour as much as I did and the attendees were in rapt attention, I might even say in awe with her at ease conversation in sharing her expertise which, in my opinion, knows no bounds. Bravo Valerie and thank you....here’s to the next book!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

We bought this book after a visit to the exhibit at the museum at FIT on which the book is based. We just read the book for the first time, several years later. I found the text to be slightly repetitive, with the same opinions presented multiple times. There was one section that jumped around and drew some confusing conclusions that were not very logically constructed. But, in general, it was an amusing and well-researched history of the color pink, with a plethora of interesting photographs. After reading, my daughter wore two pink tops to school in a single week, after having eschewed the color for the majority of the school year. So I guess it was at least somewhat impactful.

[Lona · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the selection of photos and a lot of thoughts in the essays were interesting. It was a bit repetitive though. Several essays included the same thoughts about pink as a "feminine" colour and the quote about pink being the colour of choice for young boys, the pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness and the pink triangle - all good and important topics, but after the third essay thematizing these in a very similar way I started zoning out. There were essays about Mexican pink and pink in Japan and some others that differed, but apart from that I mostly liked it for the visuals. For an essay collection I'd have liked more variety.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're a pink fan, this is an informative and beautiful book.

It begins with an overview of the history of the color, followed by 6 - 8 essays by various people about the politics of pink, the influence of pink in countries like Mexico and Japan, the uses of pink in art and fashion, and more.

What really drew me to the book were the photos and artwork.

I learned a little something and it was pink! What more could you want?

*some adult themes

[LibraryKath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous! Stunning! Iconic! Delicious! Such a flowing read, I could barely put it down. Filled with history and gorgeous photographs and artwork, my only criticism is that I would have loved more detailed information on the history of pigments and dyes themselves.

Great discussions of the colour through the lenses of gender, fashion, colonialism, sex, race and more.

Can the author please write more books on other colours?

[Heather Layne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stuff! Not terribly interesting to read all of the time--some of it was like reading college essays for, I don't know, fashion history class. Eh, it was fine. I did learn things, and the writing wasn't bad, just not terribly engaging (story-like, for me) all the time. The photos were fantastic (and great quality). This would be a neat coffee table book, if I was that kind of person.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

In three words: Enlightening. Curious. Gorgeous

[Juliana Feriani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the history of the color pink ...I would have liked more of a conclusion ...

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, written as a scholarly book but extremely (and surprisingly) readable.

[Baroness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty book.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous photos and informative history about an iconic color.

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting takes on the color pink in fashion throughout history.